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Jump between the major ranking views for South Carolina and compare how the order changes when priorities shift.
State Ranking
Best Cities in SC
These are the top cities in South Carolina based on overall MoveScore and the broader relocation trade-offs that matter when choosing where to live.
This page compares the strongest overall city options in South Carolina using a data-driven ranking model tied to affordability, safety, and livability.
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Data-driven ranking of Best Cities in SC based on cost, safety, and livability.
Top cities in South Carolina
Highest-ranked results based on this page’s weighting model.
#1
Summerville, SC scores 66/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a moderately affordable cost profile, a mixed safety profile,…
#2
66
Conway, SC scores 66/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a more affordable than many comparable markets cost profile,…
#3
Fort Mill, SC scores 66/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with a moderately affordable cost profile, a stronger safety…
More ranked cities
Continue exploring cities that score well within this ranking model.
#4
66
Greer, SC scores 66/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#5
66
Mauldin, SC scores 66/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#6
Rock Hill, SC scores 65/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city…
#7
Charleston, SC scores 65/100 (Good) on Your Area Score. It is a mid-sized city with…
#8
Mount Pleasant, SC scores 64/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city…
#9
64
Columbia, SC scores 64/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a mid-sized city with…
#10
North Charleston, SC scores 63/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a mid-sized city…
#11
63
Anderson, SC scores 63/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#12
Goose Creek, SC scores 63/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city…
#13
62
Aiken, SC scores 62/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#14
62
Bluffton, SC scores 62/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#15
62
Florence, SC scores 62/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#16
61
Sumter, SC scores 61/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#17
Greenville, SC scores 60/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#18
Spartanburg, SC scores 59/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city with…
#19
Hilton Head Island, SC scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller…
#20
Myrtle Beach, SC scores 57/100 (Fair) on Your Area Score. It is a smaller city…
What makes these cities rank well
People comparing cities in South Carolina usually want a faster way to narrow the field before clicking into full city profiles. This ranking does that by surfacing cities that perform well against the weighting model used on this page.
Use the links below each city to jump into the full profile, compare related rankings, and explore other state-level pathways without starting over from scratch.
How this ranking works
The overall ranking model in South Carolina uses MoveScore as the core signal, which reflects affordability, safety, climate, infrastructure, schools, grocery access, and broader relocation trade-offs.
These pages are designed to help users compare cities faster, then click deeper into the city profiles for more detail on cost of living, safety, climate, schools, infrastructure, grocery access, and broader trade-offs.
MoveScore
Affordability
Safety
Climate
Infrastructure
Schools
Grocery Access